Strikes in France delay Tapestry Transfer

Protests and strikes designed for Thursday in France have forced a delay in transporting a secret location by Bayeux Tapestry in front of its historic planned loan to the United Kingdom next year, an official said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to lend the medieval wallpaper-which records the 1066 Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England-in the British Museum in 2026 to celebrate Franco-British relations.

Following the museum where the upholstery is held in the city of Bayeux in Normandy Closed for renovations, the upholstery had to be removed on Thursday in a secret location in France in front of the loan.

“Due to the expected mobilization tomorrow (Thursday),” local authorities do not believe that “they are able to ensure the safety of such a high transfer profile and … such an expensive project,” said Philippe Belaval, the French presidency envoy to the British Museum loan.

The location of the place where the wallpaper is to be safely maintained in front of the loan has not been revealed. This transfer feature will take place “in the coming days,” the envoy to AFP told.

Critics said the transfer to the UK’s dangers caused damage to the priceless object. A report published on the internet at change.org called on Macron to stop a “real inheritance crime”. Belaval has previously defended the transfer, insisting that there is no proposal that the United Kingdom loan will harm the upholstery.

The Tapestry loan will mark the first time in its life for almost 1,000 years, so that the 68 -meter -long piece, dating from about 1077, will be on British territory. He will borrow at the British Museum for 10 months since September 2026.

The French museums will borrow ancient treasures mainly from the site of Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo, one of England’s most important archaeological enclaves. France was on Thursday for a day of disorder at a national level in a demonstration of anger for Macron’s budget policies.

The unions have promised mass protests, public transport is going to paralyze in places due to strikes, and officials have warned of the possibility of extremists causing disorders.